An open record of what we have done on Eski Datça's "Best Tourism Villages" journey. Each entry describes work that actually happened — what was done, not what was promised. Newest first.
Three archives were published: the peninsula's flora and fauna, the village kitchen, and the people who left their mark on the village. More importantly, these archives are not closed. A visitor can send a photograph of a plant they saw, a business its own dish, a villager a memory. Every contribution is published after review, credited to the person who sent it.
Go to the related page →A guided nature route was prepared for the stops along the Carian Trail, and each stop was linked to a scannable code that can be placed in the field. When a walker holds up their phone at a stop, the interpretation for that point opens directly. The codes are ready for printing and will be installed in line with protected-area permissions.
Go to the related page →What the portal collects, where it sends it and how long it keeps it was written out plainly in five languages. A "what we do not collect" section was placed first: a visitor's address is stored at no layer, no tracking cookies are used, location never leaves the device. Consent on contribution forms is now verified on the server as well, and the moment consent was given is recorded.
Go to the related page →For each of the nine areas of evaluation, concrete evidence points with an actual counterpart on the portal were compiled and published on the About page. Every item links straight to the page that substantiates it. The aim was not to claim, but to be able to show.
Go to the related page →A narrated walking tour of the stone lanes was produced in five languages. The full text of every narration also appears on screen, so a visitor who cannot play or hear the audio can follow the tour by reading. Audio files are pre-loaded for offline use.
Go to the related page →Two candid pages were added so that everyone can explore the village. The accessibility page states both the site's digital features and the real difficulty of the narrow stone lanes as they are — no certification is claimed and the limits are written out plainly. The safety page gathers emergency information and health points.
Go to the related page →The village's guesthouses digitised a solidarity practice that had run over the phone for years: passing a guest on to one another when full. The network is closed and no price information is ever stored; only "I have a room on these dates" is shared. A guest's phone number is visible to no one in the pool and is deleted automatically after thirty days.
Go to the related page →The application window for "Best Tourism Villages 2026" closed and the files entered review by an independent advisory board across nine areas of evaluation. The portal kept growing after this date; every section added during the evaluation window is recorded in this journal.
The village's digital gateway opened in five languages: Turkish, English, German, French and Spanish. The first release brought points of interest, an interactive map, itineraries and an AI guide grounded in village content. The site was built to work offline too — connectivity is not strong everywhere in the village.
Go to the related page →Producers and businesses in the village can now create their own profiles, with no membership and no fee. Submissions go live after review, and each business can update its record at any time through a private link. The site takes no payment and no commission — it connects the visitor straight to the business.
Go to the related page →The Ministry of Culture and Tourism nominated Eski Datça as one of Türkiye's candidate destinations for UN Tourism's "Best Tourism Villages 2026" programme, citing the village's historic stone fabric, cultural heritage and potential for sustainable tourism.
